This article discusses the inclusion of movement education and motor activities of a kindergarten teacher in her class. She was becoming increasingly annoyed with the intense focus on academics at the expense of other important parts of her program. According to her, the children need exercise, and social skills, and music, and being outdoors.…

The gross-motor activity of 27 three- and four- year-olds was assessed through teacher ratings, parent responses to the activity scale of the Colorado Childhood Temperament Inventory, and data from uncalibrated actometers worn by children during free play. Activity scores composited across multiple actometers had high reliability and correlated…

Investigates whole body stiffness as a function of developmental level in the hopping of seven children of four-eight years. Proposes that stiffness may be a key parameter that is controlled by the central nervous system when children hop. (RJC)

Introduces "All about Me," an instrument useful to occupational-therapy researchers and clinicians in evaluating the perceptions of children who feel themselves to be less competent in performing daily motor tasks. Reports on tests of its validity and reliability. (JOW)

School-age children with movement problems such as Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) are known to have social and emotional difficulties. However, little research has investigated younger children to determine whether these problems emerge at school age or are present earlier. The aim of the current study was to investigate the…

Early movement successes for young children are related to performing activities of daily living without assistance or with minimum assistance, recreational opportunities, and overall health wellness, growth, and development. As children are provided with frequent opportunities to participate in everyday fun and engaging physical activities, they…

Survivors of preterm birth have a high incidence of neurodevelopmental impairment which is not explained by currently understood brain abnormalities. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that the neurodevelopmental abilities of 2-year-old children who were born preterm and who had no evidence of focal abnormality on conventional MR…

Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) is a genetic disorder which has widespread developmental consequences including motor, cognitive and language delay. Previous research on PWS children has focused primarily on phonological development and dysfluency. In the present study, the lexical development of a boy with PWS was investigated in a series of 18 play…

The KinderSkills program, in which parents serve as motor development teachers of their children, has operated for five years. A recent innovation was to add grandparents to the program to see if the motor skill levels of the grandparents also would improve. This program is described and evaluated. (MT)

Studied developmental changes in rhythmic motor skills by observing the hand clapping of 3- through 7-year olds. Found that a variable measuring coordination of children's arms while clapping changed from a nonconstant magnitude in younger clappers to a constant magnitude in older clappers. (BC)

Teachers of young children know the importance of designing developmentally appropriate activities to encourage motor development but are not always prepared with the information they need to accomplish this design. When teachers choose movement activities, motor development theory must be understood and utilized in the planning of activities to…

Concludes that guided instruction in psychomotor skills at the nursery school level leads to significant improvements in motor patterns for boys and girls. (RB)

The author briefly surveys early psychomotor development in children, the process of separation-individualization during the first three years of life, and the effect that early experience may have on subsequent actual physical movement. The studies of Jean Piaget and Margaret Mahler provide a framework for examining the notions of space…

Examined the movement characteristics of 41 meningomyelocele children through administration of 13 items from the Southern California Sensory Integration Test. Three factors of movement ability emerged: one describing a pattern representing both constructional and gestural apraxia; the second indicative of bilateral coordination; and the third…

Discusses the important role of movement in Montessori early childhood education. Focuses on the cycle of movement: (1) free exploration; (2) concentration; (3) coordination; and (4) independence. Discusses the contributions of movement to abstract thought and presents information on current theories regarding the connection between movement and…